New Dramas, New Voices, Below 14th Street - New York Times:
One factor encouraging new plays has been the founding of 13P, a collective of theater artists dedicated to the idea summed up by its defiant slogan: “We don’t develop plays (we do them).” Members of this troupe, founded in 2004 as a reaction to the prevailing system of nonstop workshops, include Ms. Washburn (an early version of her “Internationalist” was 13P’s inaugural production in 2004), Ms. Lee, Ms. Callaghan and Sarah Ruhl. Of this group Ms. Ruhl has received the most uptown success with “The Clean House” at Lincoln Center. (Her “Eurydice” is in previews at Second Stage.)
The question now is: What will happen to these playwrights? Will they continue to refine their art or decamp for more lucrative pursuits? The real crisis in American theater is not that there aren’t any new writers. It’s that they so frequently fade away, heading to the big or small screen. And without the support of the commercial theater, that trend will probably continue.
Ms. Washburn, Mr. Bock and Ms. Schwartz so drastically depart from naturalism that they seem more suited to the stage. Here’s hoping they keep at it. For while none of their works last season could be called the great American play, the dramas are good enough to suggest that they have the potential to write it someday.
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